Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with my colleague, Senator Clonan, on the importance of involving artists with disabilities. He has made his points very well. I know from talking to artists with a disability that they are concerns that are reflected within the sector.

I thank the Minister because she personally is very invested in this matter. When she appeared before our Oireachtas committee, she provided real leadership on this issue. She has put her money where her mouth is and taken on board the recommendations made by our committee, and the Irish Theatre Institute. She has provided real leadership within this sector.

I thank everyone on the committee who did the work. In particular, I single out my colleague, Senator Warfield, for playing a leading role within the committee specifically around this issue. We worked in a very collegial way on something we think is extremely important. I was quite influenced by the testimony of many of those who came forward, and some with great bravery, to talk about their own personal experience. Oireachtas committees often deal with legislation and policies, and we debate where funding should go and so on. However, it is difficult for people to share their personal experiences and that informed our report and, indeed, influenced the approach taken by the Minister.

The arts, creative and cultural sectors should be fun, enjoyable and engaging places in which to work. Anybody who gets involved should always feel safe in such environments. In the majority of cases most people do feel safe but, unfortunately, we have had quite a number of cases where people do not feel safe. As Senator Martin has said, in many cases this is because of the power dynamic. For artists, particularly emerging artists, one of the challenges they face, and often when they seek work and support, is that they must deal with individuals who are in much more powerful positions and they really often depend on those individuals to give them a break. I think what the Minister has done by creating the Safe to Create programme is to provide a safe space, ensure there is a balance and, most importantly, that everybody within the sector understands their obligations.

In many ways, one often hopes that there is never a need for dignity at work code. In an ideal world there would not be a need because we would know how to behave and interact, plus somebody who is in a position of power or responsibility would act as a mentor and encourage the young and emerging artists, and would not abuse his or her position but, unfortunately, we need the code. I commend the Minister on establishing the code. A lot of thanks are due to her, her officials and all of the stakeholders within the sector for the code but we also need to remember those in the Irish Theatre Institute and others who were brave enough to speak out in the first instance. We need to roll out the programme. There must be implications for organisations that do not take the code seriously. We also need to use State funding in a responsible way and if organisations do not take the code seriously then we need to withhold State funding.

l, again, commend the Minister and her officials on the work that they have done on the code. I am sure that she will find any support she needs in a cross-party way.